A university in Paris has dismissed a dance teacher citing discrimination because she used the words man and woman instead of "leader" and "follower" in class. In a statement, the institution reiterated its commitment to fighting any kind of discrimination, emphasizing that the decision had no political motivation whatsoever.

After eight years of employment, Sciences Po University fired one of its teachers from one day to the other on grounds of discrimination, the paper Le Parisien report. The teacher was a ballroom dance instructor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and her sin was that she used the terms man and woman in class instead of the neutral terms „leader” and „follower” preferred by some of her students, who filed a complaint with the management accusing the teacher of sexism and discrimination. One of the students shared a post on Twitter, saying that the instructor was sexist and homophobic and made many students feel uncomfortable by making inappropriate remarks.

Je fais partie des étudiant. es qui se sont plaints. Une professeure sexiste et homophobe, qui tenait des propos déplacés á longueur de cours. Un manque de professionnalisme criant, qui mettaient nombre d’entre nous mal-á-l’aise. Merci @sciencespo ❤️https://t.co/1MUAnkefQz

— romeowiththeaccent (@avecromeo) December 8, 2022

The institute issued a press release, writing that Sciences Po is committed to fighting all forms of discrimination and strongly condemns the lies and political manipulations generated by the departure of Valerie Plazenet, the dance teacher in question. The university pointed out that several students had filed complaints about the teacher because of her repeated sexist, discriminatory and humiliating comments, which the institute denounced as sexist and described as sexual violence. The statement said that the teacher had been asked to desist form making exclusionary comments in line with the law and the institute’s code of ethics. In its statement, the institute emphasized that it was Valerie Plazenet who notified Sciences Po’s management that she wished to quit, contrary to press reports claiming that she had been fired.

Les discriminations n’auront jamais leur place á Sciences Po ➡️ https://t.co/b9SmWcYUq7 pic.twitter.com/KkewG0yvoN

— Sciences Po (@sciencespo) December 8, 2022

The institute’s claims, however, have been refuted by several people, with one of her former students writing on Twitter that the instructor, being a former student at the university, was very much aware of the pressure from Sciences Po, adding that she had never made any offensive remarks.

Pour avoir été son étudiant, la professeure á été très impactée par la pression que Science Po lui a fait subir. Elle n’a jamais tenu de tels propos, si ce n’est se défendre d’utiliser le terme „garçon fille” au lieu de „leader follower”.
Ça s’appelle la liberté d’enseignement. https://t.co/d4khjXodvO

— Dorian Beltran (@DorianB03) December 8, 2022

The claim that she had made discriminatory and offensive comments was pure slander, wrote the former student in response to the tweet by the student who had filed a complaint. Many things can be said about the teacher, but she is not homophobic or racist, the former student said, adding that many students were upset that the institute had forced her to resign.

C’est de la diffamation…
Je fais aussi partie des étudiants qui l’ont eue ce semestre. Cette excellente professeure est tout sauf homophobe et sexiste. Beaucoup de ses étudiants sont exaspérés par le fait que @sciencespo l’ai poussée á démissionner. https://t.co/xQw42GqPpk

— Dorian Beltran (@DorianB03) December 8, 2022

In an interview, Valerie Plazenet told CNews that she had several homosexual dance partners, pointing out that accusations of homophobia and racism were groundless. She said she was not against same sex dances as she respected everyone’s choice. She explained however, that there are roles in ballroom dance that can be defined with the terms ‘male’ and ‘female’ and she insisted on using those terms. At the same time, she added that

she is proud to be a woman, but woke theories wipe out the term woman whereas a woman’s body is greatly different from a man’s.

The instructor highlighted another example of wokeism, saying that a pianist told her that the movement also targeted the piano claiming that the instrument was discriminatory because there were more white keys than black ones.

🗣️«Je suis fière d’être femme. Avec ces théories, on est en train de bousiller la femme, elle ne va plus exister (…) Une pianiste me dit que c’est en train d’arriver dans le piano parce qu’il y a plus de touches blanches que de touches noires» explique-t-elle á @CNEWS 3/3 pic.twitter.com/3yX7a2GrtS

— Amaury Bucco (@AmauryBucco) December 8, 2022

The case of the former instructor at Sciences Po drew wide response on social media, with the majority of people speaking out for the dance teacher.